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René Rast from Germany tackles his home race on the Nürburgring from pole position on Sunday at the wheel of his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. In qualifying for the seventh round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup, the VELTINS MRS Racing pilot and reigning Carrera Cup champion was 0.094 seconds quicker than the Dutch title defender and points’ leader Jeroen Bleekemolen (Konrad Motorsport). After celebrating his first Supercup win at the previous round in Silverstone, this marks the second pole position for René Rast this season.

In an exciting qualifying, which was run in two sessions for the first time, Jan Seyffarth (Germany) from tolimit/Seyffarth Motorsport turned the third fastest time. The guest starter from the Carrera Cup shares the second row of the grid with Stefan Rosina from Slovakia (Walter Lechner Racing School), followed by Jiri Janak from the Czech Republic (Konrad Motorsport) and SPS Performance pilot Lance David Arnold, who put in a strong drive in Silverstone and now contests his second Supercup race.

Taking up the race from the fourth row are Austria’s Norbert Siedler (VELTINS MRS Racing) and Richard Williams from Great Britain (SPS Performance). The top ten on the grid are rounded off by Ireland’s Damien Faulkner (Walter Lechner Racing School), vice champion of 2007 and 2008, as well as Christian Engelhart. For the Supercup newcomer from Germany, who competes for the SANITEC RACING team, this marks just his second race in the world’s fastest international brand trophy series.

Bad luck plagued Patrick Huisman in qualifying: With his SPS Performance 911 GT3 Cup, the Supercup record winner from the Netherlands left the track and crashed into the barriers. After brief repairs Huisman, who currently ranks third in the overall standings, could continue driving but was not in a position to fight for a top grid position. Qualifying 13th, he takes up the race from the seventh row of the grid.

The Jetstream-Federsand Motorsport squad, for whom the double Supercup winner Richard Westbrook (Great Britain) achieved two wins so far this season in Barcelona and Monaco, will not contest the Nürburgring round due to problems with its sponsor.

René Rast (pole-sitter): “Two pole positions in a row – that makes me happy. Had I not made a slight error just before the NGK chicane, I could have been faster. Our tactic was to start the second stint with used tyres and then attack with a new set – it worked perfectly. We totally confused the others. Now I hope to bring home my second victory tomorrow from pole. We get more time to drive with this new qualifying format and that gives the spectators more action from start to finish. This is a very positive development.”



Jeroen Bleekemolen (second qualifier): “That wasn’t too bad. I can live with missing out on the pole by less than a tenth of a second. Now it’s all about concentrating on tomorrow’s race and getting away well at the start. Then anything is possible.”

Jan Seyffarth (third qualifier): “With this being my first Supercup race this season, I’m not used to driving fast on Formula 1 rubber on the track surface any more. In the second heat we made a small mistake when we thought it would soon start raining. That’s why I went out too early.”

Television stations “Eurosport” (11.45 hours) and “Premiere” (11.30 hours) broadcast the race on the Nürburgring live on 12th July. In addition, “Eurosport” televises highlights of the race on Sunday evening in its “Motorsports Weekend” programme.


Qualifying result
1. René Rast (GER), VELTINS MRS Racing, 2:03.552 minutes
2. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NED), Konrad Motorsport, + 0.094 seconds
3. Jan Seyffarth (GER), tolimit/Seyffarth Motorsport, + 0.236
4. Stefan Rosina (SVK), Walter Lechner Racing School, + 0.344
5. Jiri Janak (CZE), Konrad Motorsport, + 0.676
6. Lance David Arnold (GER), SPS Performance, 0.688